nivalenol and Mycoses

Three Fusarium species: F. graminearum, F. culmorum and F. cerealis were identified in laboratory cultures and in sporodochia from spikelets of scabby wheat. SCAR (sequence characterized amplified region) primers were used to identify Fusarium species and nivalenol (NIV) and deoxynivalenol (DON) chemotypes within species in laboratory cultures and field collected heads harvested in 2006. Results from PCR analyses confirmed preliminary identifications of species on the basis of examination of macroconidia under a light microscope and identification of cultures on agar media. NIV and DON (3Ac-DON and 15Ac-DON) chemotypes were identified using PCR assay. Among samples and isolates of F. graminearum, the 15Ac-DON chemotype dominated, and among those where F. culmorum was identified, the 3Ac-DON chemotype prevailed. Only 5 of the 41 isolates of F. graminearum tested, displayed the NIV chemotype. An increase in the frequency of F. graminearum and a decrease in the frequency of F. culmorum were found during 1998 to 2006.

Topics: Fusarium; Mycoses; Plant Diseases; Poland; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Trichothecenes; Triticum

In South-Eastern region of Poland (near Lublin), where frequency of scab (fusariosis) is much higher than in other parts of the country, during harvest of 1993 kernels of 25 winter wheat cultivars were collected. On the basis of morphological studies Fusarium graminearum was found in 42% of investigated samples while other fungi appeared less frequently: F. nivale and F. poae (35%), F. avenaceum (31%) and F. culmorum (12%). Chemical analysis (by HPLC) revealed that the tested cultivars were contaminated with deoxynivalenol (96% of investigated samples), its acetyl derivatives (48%), nivalenol (76%) and moniliformin (28%). The average levels of the metabolite concentrations were as follows: 104; 16; 97; and 63 micrograms/kg, respectively. Co-occurrence of 2 toxic metabolites was found in the following percentage of the positive samples: deoxynivalenol and nivalenol (72%), deoxynivalenol and moniliformin, as well as nivalenol and moniliformin (24%). Usually (71-83% of contaminated samples) mycotoxins were accumulated in the concentration range > or = 10, < 100 micrograms/kg.

Topics: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Cyclobutanes; Food Contamination; Food Microbiology; Fusarium; Humans; Mycoses; Mycotoxins; Poland; T-2 Toxin; Trichothecenes; Triticum

Ten samples of stored wheat grain and 10 samples of settled grain dust released during machine threshing of wheat grain were collected on 10 farms located in Lublin province (eastern Poland). The samples were examined for the concentration of total microfungi, Fusarium species, fusariotoxins (moniliformin, deoxynivalenol, nivalenol), and ochratoxin. Microfungi able to grow on malt agar were present in 30% of grain samples (median for all examined samples = 0, range 0-227.5 x 10(3) cfu/g) and in all samples of grain dust (median = 977.5 x 10(3) cfu/g, range 115.0-16,700.0 x 10(3) cfu/g). Fusarium species (F. avenaceum) were found only in 10% of grain samples (median = 0, range 0-800.0 x 10(3) cfu/g), but in 90% of grain dust samples (median = 1,150 x 10(3) cfu/g, range 5.5-10,060.0 x 10(3) cfu/g). The species F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F. poae and F. sporotrichioides were isolated respectively from 50%, 10%, 20%, 40% and 20% of examined grain dust samples. The presence of the mycotoxins produced by Fusarium (moniliformin, deoxynivalenol, and nivalenol) was found altogether in 70% of wheat grain samples (median = 0.1275 microg/g, range 0-1.480 microg/g) and in 90% of grain dust samples (median = 0.350 microg/g, range 0-1.090 microg/g). Moniliformin (MON), deoxynivalenol (DON), and nivalenol (NIV) were each detected in 40% of grain samples, and respectively in 80%, 40%, and 40% of grain dust samples. Ochratoxin A (OTA) was detected in 60% of grain samples and in 60% of grain dust samples (median in both cases was 0.0005 microg/g). The concentrations of F. poae (p<0.05) and of total Fusarium species (p<0.01) in grain samples, and the concentrations of F. culmorum and F. graminearum (p<0.05) in grain dust samples were significantly correlated with the concentration of deoxynivalenol. The concentrations of F. poae (p<0.05) and of total Fusarium species (p<0.01) in grain dust samples were significantly correlated with the concentration of total fusariotoxins. Moreover, the concentration of total Fusarium species in grain dust samples was significantly correlated with the concentration of nivalenol (p<0.05). In conclusion, the majority of samples of wheat grain and grain threshing dust collected on farms in eastern Poland contained notable quantities of fusaria and/or fusariotoxins. This fact poses a potential risk of mycotoxicoses to agricultural workers exposed to grain dust when handling wheat during threshing, unloading, shuffling, and other f

Topics: Agricultural Workers' Diseases; Air Microbiology; Colony Count, Microbial; Cyclobutanes; Dust; Food Contamination; Food Microbiology; Fungi; Fusarium; Humans; Mycoses; Mycotoxins; Occupational Exposure; Poland; Trichothecenes; Triticum

A total of 237 commercially available samples of cereal-based foods including bread and related products, noodles, breakfast cereals, baby and infant foods, rice and other foods were randomly collected in southwest Germany during the first six months of 1998. The trichothecenes deoxynivalenol (DON), 3- and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-,15-ADON), nivalenol (NIV), fusarenon-X (FUS-X), T-2 toxin (T-2) and HT-2 toxin (HT-2) were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry following clean-up by a two stage solid-phase extraction. Detection limits ranged between 2 and 12 micrograms/kg. Based on all samples, the incidence of DON, HT-2, T-2, 3-ADON, 15-ADON, and NIV was at 71, 18, 4, 4, 4 and 2%, respectively; the average contents in positive samples were at 103, 16, 14, 17, 24 and 109 micrograms/kg, respectively. Fus-X was not detected in any sample. A lower (P < 0.05) DON content was found in baby and infant foods as well as in cookies and cakes compared to bread. Overall, based on the incidence and level of all six toxins, the degree of contamination was lowest in baby and infant foods. Foods produced from either white or whole grain flour did not differ (P > 0.05) with regard to the incidence and level of DON. In foods produced from cereals of organic production both the incidence and median content of DON was lower compared to conventional production. Zearalenone, alpha- and beta-zearalenol were determined by high performance liquid chromatography in 20 selected samples, mostly baby and infant foods. These toxins were not present in excess of the detection limit in any sample.

Topics: Bread; Chromatography, Affinity; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Edible Grain; Food Microbiology; Fusarium; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Germany; Humans; Infant Food; Mycoses; Mycotoxins; Oryza; Secale; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; T-2 Toxin; Trichothecenes; Triticum; Zea mays; Zearalenone; Zeranol